1977 Pontiac Trans Am - Time Bandit

Trevor Jordan is a Pontiac guy, which isn't odd, except for the fact that he grew up in England. "I bought my first Formula 400 when I was 21. Everyone in Europe rips into you for driving an American tank. They don't say 'Nice car,' or 'What's it run?' They say, 'How much did it cost to insure?' or 'How many miles per gallon?' and my favorite, 'A 7-liter engine! That's not very environmentally friendly!' Of course, they don't ask drivers of Bentleys or V-12 Mercedes those questions," Trevor says. Many of his buddies changed their tune once they did some road racing against Trevor and his "American Tank." Their Lotus Cortinas and 3-liter Capris couldn't hang with the Pontiac, and after the race, Trevor heard comments like "You passed me like I was standing still!" and "How do you get that thing to corner so flat?" and "I just couldn't stay with you through those bends." Feeling a bit vindicated, Trevor knew that he had made the right choice in choosing American iron and his lifetime love of Pontiacs began.

His second Pontiac was a '78 Trans Am and he did a ton of work on it, which wasn't easy since there wasn't squat for parts in the UK. His job moved him and his TA to Germany where he got a chance to stretch the legs of his Pontiac. As he tells it, "I took my Trans Am with me to Germany and scared myself shitless more than once getting over 150 mph on the Autobahn. The front lifted, the side windows wanted to pop out and I needed all three lanes just to keep it on the road. Great fun!" Later, when his job moved him to Detroit, he had to abandon his '78 in Germany since he couldn't even give it away. What do you expect from a continent that thinks Citroens are cool?

Over the years Trevor got back into cars and tried his hand at building a street rod. But the first time he drove it, he realized he was not meant to be a street rodder, so he sold the rod and bought more Firebirds. At least it was easier to find parts here in the States. Some he restored and some he upgraded, but he wanted to do something a bit more serious. Now living in Englewood, Fla., Trevor found a rust-free '77 Trans Am out in the dry California desert and brought it home. A plan coalesced in his mind to build a road-hugging Bandit Special Edition car the way he had always wanted. He also wanted to do as much as possible with his own two hands and only farm out the bare minimum.

Handling was the most important thing to the transplanted Brit. The old subframe was retired, and Trevor contacted Wayne Due in the distant land of Washington State to build him one using C4 Vette components. "At that time, Wayne wasn't too familiar with Second Generation cars and worked mostly on '67-69 Camaros, but he did have a '75 Firebird for reference. Given the distance, there was no sending it back under warranty. When the frame arrived, I had to relocate the engine mounts and tinker with the radiator support to make it fit, but the C4 suspension parts mounted right up." Rack-and-pinion steering replaced the old recirculating-ball gearbox and Trevor went with the QA1 coil-overs recommended by Wayne. DelAlum bushings from Global West were used everywhere possible along with their aluminum body bushings and Alston subframe connectors to help stiffen the T-top Pontiac. To save weight, Trevor ditched the front bumper structure and replaced it with an aluminum frame, which he figures shaved 60 pounds off the nose of the car. He then attacked the back bumper support with a plasma cutter and cut away an additional 10 pounds. Now he has even more motivation to avoid accidents. Out back, Global West L3 leaf springs and Edelbrock shocks keep the rear firmly in contact with the asphalt.

Choosing the wheels and tires for the Trans Am provided the most anguish during the project. The larger Baer disc brakes that Trevor bought for all four corners meant that the stock snowflake wheels weren't an option. "This body style needs a complicated wheel," explains Trevor. "I thumbed through countless tuner magazines before I came across the package I wanted. When the wheels arrived and I saw them, it was like looking at jewelry." The VSX three-piece wheels are 18x10 in the rear and 18x9 up front and have the requisite gold-painted centers to carry through the "Bandit" look of the Pontiac. For tires, Trevor went with BFG KDWs in sizes 285/40 and 255/45, which gave him the 27-inch diameter he needed to nail the stance.

It was time to motivate the '77, and the one requirement was that it had to be a Pontiac mill. Trevor contacted Ken's Speed and Machine in Brooksville, Fla., and ordered up one of his 511 crate motors. The engine uses the Indian Adventures block and came topped with 90cc Edelbrock heads. The 10.5:1 compression engine has a custom-ground 4.30-inch stroke crank and forged Eagle 6.800-inch floating H-beam rods with forged BRC pistons. Working the COMP valvetrain is a custom-grind 510/520-lift, 230/236-duration hydraulic roller camshaft. Not happy to leave well enough alone, Trevor got some port work done on the heads and had the 1.66-inch exhaust valves swapped out for 1.77-inch valves. He then had Cliff Ruggles completely rebuild and massage a '79 Quadrajet and bolted it to the Holley Street Dominator intake manifold. Putting the spark to the fuel is left to an MSD Pro Billet distributor with a 6AL ignition box and a Canton road race pan keeps everything oiled properly. Spent gasses are sent packing through a set of Ron Watt custom Tri-Y headers that feed into a 2.5-inch exhaust system by Pypes. Keeping the whole deal running cool, even in the oppressive Florida heat, is a Griffin radiator with dual Spal electric fans that trigger at 180 degrees. All of these parts work together to put out 523 horsepower at 5,200 rpm and a neck-snapping 658 ft-lbs of twist at 3,800 rpm. The rest of the drivetrain consists of a TKO-600 five-speed from Keisler with a Hayes 11-inch hydraulic clutch and Lakewood bellhousing. From there, power transmits back to the Moser Ford 9-inch locker rear end with 3.50 gears.

Next up was the bodywork, which, given the primo condition of the car, was minimal. Trevor wanted to keep the Bandit look, so the color choice was a no-brainer. One big change he made was to the rear of the car where he substituted '79 rear lights in place of the originals. Trevor explained, "I wasn't sure it would work. The rear sheet metal is from a '79, but the '77 spoilers and bumper bolted right up. This meant I had to fabricate a license plate holder and recess it into the back bumper." Trevor had a shop that was all lined up to paint the car, but hurricane Charley destroyed the guy's building, so that was a no-go. Six months later, he managed to get the paint laid on by A1 Collision in Englewood, Fla. The '77 Trans Am SE graphics package complete with the "Screaming Chicken" was painstakingly applied by Trevor himself.

The interior got improvements only where needed. Gone are the idiot lights in the dash; in their place resides a complete set of Auto Meter carbon fiber gauges. The non-supportive stock seats were ditched in favor of Corbeau CR1 units that will keep Trevor firmly planted when the lateral g's start to load up. SK Auto Trim in Englewood, Fla., stitched up the back seats to match the front and reworked the door panels and headliner. Trevor felt it was way too much cash to revamp the stock A/C unit, so he replaced it with one from Vintage Air. As for the tunes, Trevor told us, "I spent a lot of money putting in a great sound system, but I'm not sure I will ever turn it on, as the car just sounds so good."

Trevor just finished the car back in January and hasn't had much time to enjoy it yet, but he's very happy with how it came out. As he stated, "Could I have bough a new Z06 Corvette with the money I spent on it? Probably! Would I have been better off spending over 1,500 hours of the last two years doing something more productive than researching, designing, stripping, cleaning, fabricating, and assembling to end up with what my wife calls 'another old Trans Am?' Nah!" We would have to agree. So after reading this, grab a can of Coors, fire up the DVD player and feel free to go back in time.